Just heat up a pack or two to give you
substantial energy throughout your hike. It can be quit filling
and very inexpensive. Just pick up a bag at your local grocery
store. Its a must!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Simple, yes
I know but it is very light weight and a great source of carbohydrates
(energy).

(Submitted
by MAL, May 2000)

There is
nothing more important than energy while hiking or taking long
trips. Wild beans and rice is without a doubt an essential while
hiking. All that is needed is already prepared packets of rice
that needs boiling.

$0.79/serving

DINNER

Quick
and easy

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: a long time

Read instructions

(Submitted
by chris, May 2000)

Continental
Noodle meals

Mushroom/Noodles
in Brown Sauce

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: one week

Boil water and cook noodles. Set aside.
Sauté halfed mushrooms in Margarine about 10 mins.
Add sauce packet and sliced Jerky and follow cooking directions
for sauce. Cheese/Tomato sauces work as well and the mushrooms
weigh next to nothing and are a treat and very filling.

(Submitted
by Mark, May 2000)

Bag of
Noodles (I
prefer large flat ones)

Pint of
fresh mushrooms

Knorr's
Brown Sauce

Beef Jerky
sliced very thin

Margarine

Morning
After Beans

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: one day

First
make sure you use VanCamp's Pork & Beans and KRAFT cheese
or it won't turn out! Put cans of beans in a pot, simmer. Chop
up onion and jalapeno slices and put in the beans. I like to
brown the sausage first then cut it up and put in the pot. Take
the cheese slices and cover the top of the beans and then let
all cook. Stir when the cheese starts to melt. I usually eat
with corn bread I have cooked at home and hauled with me. This
stuff is great. You can always leave out the jalapenos and it
still tastes good! It makes enough for two adult men and one
adult female.

Bring 2 cups of water to boil. Toss all
of it in at any point. Simmer for about 3 minutes or until it
reaches the density you like. The canola oil returns the fat
taste, adds no flavor of its own, and makes all the difference
in the world

At Home:
Place all ingredients in a zip-locking bag except cheese (bag
it by its lonesome).

On The
Trail: Place ingredients (except cheese) in a covered bowl, bring
1-1/2 cups of water to a boil, add to bowl, cover and let sit
4 minutes.

Serves
one

(Submitted
by Maggott, May 2000)

1/2 C.
couscous

4 sundried
tomatoes (minced
fine)

3 dried
mushrooms (sliced
thin)

1 chicken
buillon cube

1/2 T.
onion flakes

1 t. parsley
flakes

dash black
pepper

1 oz. grated
parmesan cheese

About $3.00/serving
if you bargain shop

Soft
Bean Tacos

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: one week

Add water to taco hamburger substitute
(can be found in health food stores as a vegetarian meat substitute;
it already has the seasonings in it - or you can bring seasonings
along and use regular hamburg substitute) and simmer/boil for
15 minutes. Put on tortillas. Cut some chunks of the leftover
cheese from lunch and put on top. Dress with taco sauce (compliments
of Taco Bell condiments cabinet; we found "Hot" not
to be a good idea).

(Submitted
by Tina, May 2000)

4-6 Soft
tortillas

1 bx Taco
Hamburger Substitute

Cheese

1 pkt.
Taco Sauce

$2.00/serving

Dried
Tortellini/Ravioli

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: one week

You can find dry mini ravioli and tortellini
at Trader Joes and even Costco. They are so yummy and much easier
to cook than other pastas, like spaghetti which turns to mush
at higher elevations. They take from 10-15 minutes to cook. They
can be eaten with just olive oil, or with a tomato sauce made
from homemade tomato leather or a couple Tablespoons dried tomato
powder (+herbs spices, garlic) from Alpine Aire.
Trader Joes also sells something called Jaipur Vegetables which
comes in this foil pouch which you submerge in boiling water
for like 5 minutes and you have this yummy Indian curry potatoe
veggie goulash which we discovered is really tasty mixed with
the above pastas. Yum! Couscous is also yummy mixed with ravioli
&
tortellini. As you can tell these are quite versatile. You won't
regret them. Don't eat corn pasta, yuck! Eat gourmet!

Not fancy, but it requires min. cooking
time, is
cheap, packs easy, and readily available at most
any grocery store.
Recipe: Boil water, add dry ingredients to re-hydrate add canned
meats to warm up

(Submitted
by Don, April 2000)

Lipton
Pasta Dinners (from
grocer's shelf)

Dehydrated
vegies and/or TVP as desired

can also
use canned chicken or tuna if weight is not a problem

Onlance
Pasta

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: one month

Place
all ingredients in frezer bag. It will store in the refrigerator
for an extremely long time. It will keep in your pack for months.To
prepare remove spoon, napkin, film canister, garlic & ketchup
from freezer bag.
Peel and finely chop garlic and place in bag.

Empty
contents of ketsup and film canister in bag.Close bag and mix
ingredients by shaking and needing the bag.Bring one cup water
to boil and pour into bag.

QUICKLY
squeeze most air out of bag, reseal the bag, mix slightly and
wrap it up in your sleeping bag or jacket, etc. and leave for
10 minutes. Do not peak, heat must be retained!

Open
bag, roll down top of bag and eat out of bag using free spoon.
Use napkin as necessary.
When done, place remnants of items previously removed from bag
during preparation, seal bag and place in pack for proper disposal
at an appropriate place.

The heart
healthy meal is tasty, filling, chewy and crunchy.

(Submitted
by Lance, June 2000)

1 qt Heavy
Dty Freezer Bag

1 1/4 cup
Mueller's microwaveable pasta

1/2 tsp
salt

1 tsp Spice
Island Italian seasoning

1 heaping
Tbs Kraft grated parmesean cheese

1 x 35
mm film canister full of olive oil

3-6 cloves
garlic

dash of
crushed red pepper

dash black
pepper

5 pkts
ketchup - Burger King or McDonalds (free)

Get a free
spoon too.

Get a free
napkin too.

1/3 cup
Planters brand trail mix(nuts, Seeds, Raisns)

$1.25/serving

Tasty
Jumble

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: one day

Open
cans of corn and tomatoes.
Using the water squeezed from the cans, plus any additional water
needed, boil the rice.
Be sure to have excess water in the pot.
Add remaining contents of corn and tomatoe cans.
Chop and add garlic. (bug repellant)
Let the mix come up to temperature and boil off any additional
water.
Add seasonings from Spanish rice mix last! (important for flavor
considerations, never follow instructions)
(Optional)
Have strips of chicken soaking in a mix of olive oil and seasonings
in a plastic containier.
Cook chicken and set aside.
Add to cooked mix.

Bring
up to temparture and enjoy.

(Submitted
by Mike, July 2000)

One can
corn

One can
tomatoes

One Spanish
rice mix

8 oz chicken

Two garlic
cloves
(Optional)

10 oz chicken
breast

Salsa

Olive oil

Seasonings

Jambalaya
Mix

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: over one month

Simply follow the instructions on the box.
The recipe calls for sausage but is still the best ultralight
hiking meal in the world without.

(Submitted
by timmyG, July 2000)

one box
of jambalaya mix
beef, chicken, sausage, etc...
items can be found at a super walmart for dirt cheap.

$0.79/serving

Chicken
Spanish Rice

Needs cooking:
yes
Good for: over one month

Cook spanish rice mix per directions. When
1-2 minutes from being done add a can of chicken and a small
jar of spanish olives and enjoy!
Will feed 4 people who have hiked a medium hard trail all day,
or three big eaters, or 2 big eaters who have been hiking a long
trail for several weeks and are fat depleated.

At home: Mix together all dry ingredients
and store in a resealable plastic bag. Carry oil separately.
On the trail: Heat oil in frying pan. Add bannanaa-chocolate
mix and fry until chocolate melts. If using cocoa mix instead
of chocolate chips, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of water. Watch mixture
doesn't burn.
A resupply variation: Use fresh bananas, split and sprinkle with
nuts and chocolate chips, wrap in aluminum foil, place on glowing
coal till hot and gloppy.

(Submitted
by Chet Fromm, May 2000)

1/2 cup
banana chips

1/4 cup
walnuts

1/4 cup
chocolate chips (or package of cocoa mix)

2 tablespoons
vegetable oil

water (optional)

Easy
Trail Mix

Needs cooking:
no
Good for: one month

Add peanuts, M&M's, and candy corn
in a large zip lock bag and shake. Seperate into smaller bags
for use on the trail. A great quick snack.

(Submitted
by Mark H., April 2000)

Dry Roasted
Peanuts

Plain M&M's

Candy Corn

Energy
Candy

Needs cooking:
no
Good for: over one month

Put all the ingredients into a plastic
zip-lock bag and squeeze it until it is well mixed. Add powder
until it reaches the right consistency.

(Submitted
by Azelb, July 2000)

peanut
butter (organic)

powdered
milk or soy milk

honey or
molasses

fruit

nuts

VEGETARIAN

DRINK
MIXES

Glucose'n
Milk

Needs cooking:
no
Good for: over one month

I went for a long one day hike with no
other food than some whole milk powder and glucose.
This was mixed in equal parts, and added to a water bottle, shaken,
and consumed as a drink.
This was very good for that task, but I would not recommend to
only take this on a long, multi-day hike.
Could be a good 'emergency' ration, packed in a tight plasic
bag.
Both the milk powder and the glocose are very good foods for
high activity. Whole Milk Powder can be purchased from kingarthurflour.com,
but it's not the instant type ;-(

Whole Milk
Powder

Glucose

Juan
de Fuca Lemonaid

Needs
cooking: no
Good for: one month

In the
cup or container of your choice, mix a few ml's of the lemon
concentrate with water, and add a couple of teaspoons worth of
Splenda. If you container has a lid, or if using a ziplock bag,
close it up and shake the *&$!!** out of it.

The kids
thought this was fabulous, particularly on the last day of a
one week hike.

(Submitted
by Ernie, March 2000)

lemon juice
concentrate (the kind that comes in a plastic lemon) This is not light per
se, but it makes a ton of juice

'Splenda'
sugar replacement - ultra light stuff

water

unknown quantity per 'lemon'

Dehydrated
Wine

Needs
cooking: no
Good for: one day

Add 28
oz filtered water to your container, add 4 oz grain alcohol and
half a package of crystal light. Shake, enjoy. This is equivalent
to drinking 5 or 6 beers. Works great and comes in handy on extended
trips or for ultralight trips.